STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- None of the 26 pink-slipped prison guards at the now-shuttered Arthur Kill Correctional Facility were asked by the state to stay on to provide off-hours security at the sprawling facility in Charleston — a job that instead went to an upstate firm, which got a sweet, short-term $15,000 contract, the Advance has learned.

K&S Security of Rensselaer is providing evening security services at $23.45 an hour — not to exceed $15,000 over the next 26 days — acknowledged Empire State Development, the entity overseeing what is being called the “repurposing” of AKCF.

It could not be immediately learned why the AKCF Corrections officers who got the boot weren’t given the opportunity to apply for jobs helping to guard the facility on Arthur Kill Road — which they know so well — giving them and their families a much-needed economic boost to get them through the Christmas season.

When Assemblyman Lou Tobacco (R-South Shore) and state Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island) learned of the largess given to the upstate firm, they told the Advance that, going forward, they’ll make certain there is a public hiring process so that Staten Island security firms are in the mix to get the full-time gig come the New Year.

FORMAL BID

The state “will soon issue a formal bid for security services at the site,” said ESD spokesman Austin Shafran.

Advance file photoThe Arthur Kill Correctional Facility has closed

This as a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections noted “approximately” three Corrections employees will remain on site “during normal business hours to ensure coverage.”

And while the prison was long ago tapped for closure — a victim of Cuomo administration budget-cutting — callers to the facility yesterday were still greeted with the automated telephone message “thank you for calling Arthur Kill Correctional Facility,” and it’s still on the New York State Department of Corrections website as a medium-security prison for men.

Then again, the MTA announced yesterday that its S55 and S74 trips to the facility will end today.

What happens to it now is largely up to ESD.

Said ESD’s Shafran: “Through a public and competitive process, the state would like to test the market for reuse options within the next few months.”

He added that ESD is responsible for marketing the property and will administer the economic transformation capital grant and tax credit program.

That Economic Transformation Program is part of the current state budget to help shore up the balance sheets of communities affected by prison closures, by providing tax credits and $50 million in capital funding for projects that leverage investments to create jobs and support economic development initiatives in those localities.

How much Staten Island might be eligible to receive depends on the property’s reuse.

NO CITY JAIL

One option apparently not on the table is turning the former state prison into a city jail.

While rumors continue to fly — chiefly among state and city prison guards — neither the mayor nor the governor has the spot in their sights as a place for city inmates, assures state Sen. Diane Savino (D-North Shore/Brooklyn).

“Absolutely not true,” said Ms. Savino, who said she has spoken with high-level members of the Cuomo and Bloomberg administrations, including state Corrections Commissioner Brian Fischer, who have deemed the swap a non-starter because AKCF is “too big” for the city’s needs.

Shafran also said his agency is “unaware of any interest by the city to take over the facility for jail reuse.”

Lanza, meanwhile, said he hopes to meet with ESD officials in his Eltingville office next week to discuss possible reuse options and stress the importance of keeping the process “open.”

Shafran said ESD is “committed to getting input and hearing concerns from local officials.”

Borough President James Molinaro has already said he has a deep-pocketed developer looking to put retail on the property, but has declined to say who it is.

Still, Ms. Savino called AKCF’s closure a “sad day for a lot of people,” saying the prison was a longtime, local “stable employer.” She also acknowledged those who lost their jobs and others who have been transferred to upstate facilities disrupting their and their families’ quality of life.

But she said the expense of maintaining the prison system as it was established, given lower crime rates and a restructuring of incarceration penalties for those convicted of drug-related and other offenses, made it difficult to do so. ÂÂ